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The BC Team swept the medals in the men's race and Janelle Miller of Lethbridge, Alta., maintained her overall lead with a victory in Thursday's super giant slalom event at the Pontiac GMC Cup alpine skiing competition held at Apex Mountain.
Ben Chaddock of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club and the BC Ski Team won Super G Gold in one minute and 18.66 seconds, for his first career win on the Pontiac GMC circuit. Trevor Conroy, also of Whistler and the BC Ski Team, took second place in
1:18.74 while team mate Graham Kraft of the Silver Star Racers in Vernon was third with a time of 1:19.30.
''The win couldn't have happened at a better time, I'm very pleased,'' said Chaddock. ''I had one of my best races. I was technically very strong.''
Conroy stepped on the podium for a third straight race. ''I was much cleaner at the top today but struggled near the bottom,'' said Conroy, who won bronze on Tuesday in the first super-G and was third in slalom at the first stop on the Pontiac GMC Cup circuit last month at Nakiska, Alta.
Kraft also earned a third medal and, like Conroy, is still searching for gold. ''I'm not really happy with the result,'' said Kraft, second in Tuesday's Super-G. ''I looked for speed in too many of the wrong places. I should have just stayed smoother.''
In the women's super-G, Miller notched her second straight win clocking 1:21.87 to remain in first place overall after six races. Alison Leighton of Whistler and the BC Ski Team finished second in 1:23.36 and Charlotte Whitney, also of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club was third in 1:23.54.
Leighton injured her knee in a fall in the giant slalom at Nakiska, but has bounced back in brilliant fashion. Last week she won the National Junior Super-G title and was third in Tuesday's Super G. ''The injury didn't affect the confidence I had in my skiing,'' said Leighton, who didn't train for two weeks following her mishap. ''I made good moves today off the jumps and I stayed forward on my skis.''
Despite spraining her ankle two weeks ago in training, Whitney was disappointed.
''I was all over the place, it wasn't good,'' she said. ''I tweaked the ankle again yesterday and I can really feel it going down the hill. I can't push as much as I would like, but still I expected a better result today.''
The Pontiac GMC Cup circuit was conceived 35 years ago, first as the Pontiac Cup Series from 1969 to 1981 before it was rekindled and renamed in 1998 as the Pontiac GMC Cup. It is a developmental circuit for Canada's young alpine skiers who aspire to compete at the World Cup and Olympic level. This year's crop is expected to be in its prime for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
There are 16-races across Canada this season culminating with the Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships March 16-24 at Le Massif and Mont Sainte-Anne, Que. More than $50,000 in prize money is up for grabs.
Competition continues Sunday with men's and women's downhill.